The Honolulu Murder Files

Chapter 13

Suspect #7. 

The Housekeeping Director. 

Kima is the wife of Ron, the Maintenance Director. She is a mix of races, mostly Asian and all tiny ball of energy and meanness. No one is tougher than her in the hotel. And no one gets in her way, not even Lila. 

"I said to scrap putting corners on the tissue and toilet paper. It's pointless and costs us too much time! We need to focus on the beds and then the floors. Too many complaints of the beds not being changed and then the floors having sand and who knows what else shit on them!"

She is on the phone talking to what I am guessing is an employee in housekeeping. Her office is a huge mess, messier than I would have figured for her position. How can you take a housekeeping employee seriously if they have an uber filthy office? Not to mention the actual head of the department.

"Tell them they work until it's done! Overtime. Yep. Yep. Don't worry about it, I'll handle the heat for it. You know me." 

The conversation ends with her hanging up after more chastising. It is typical for what I have seen in the past for Kima. Tough as nails, that is her. 

"Stupid people....they can't just do what they are told! I swear I can't get out of here fast enough....if only my dumb husband would help more." She grunts, grabbing a packaged donut from her desk drawer, the gross powdered kind. "If he keeps getting in my way, I will have to do something about it."

Do something? Like murder perhaps?? Had she come to my place and 'done something' about me? The questions swirl in my mind. I can't decide who I think had murdered me. The detectives were right, I had an ungodly amount of suspects surrounding my untimely demise. 

I hover in her office for what feels like another hour, but really had only been minutes before another visitor interrupts the silence. This time though it was in person.

"Kima, we need to talk."

🩸

"The law is very clear on this...."

"I don't give a fuck Marcus. Word is that you are distracted on this one because they think you killed Leilani. Did you?"

Marcus's face was angry as he slams his fist onto Kima's desk. The noise and force scares her and me. I could still feel scared. Noted. 

"I didn't kill her. I loved her. For fucks sake, all you guys need to stop gossiping and do your damn jobs. This suit wouldn't have even gone forward if your staff had done their jobs."

Now it was Kima's turn to get angry.

"Don't you dare blame my staff. They are overworked and underpaid..."

"No they are not and you know it. The hotel pays the highest rate on Oahu for housekeepers. That is a fact. You hired friends and family Kima, ones that are lazy as hell....that is the real reason why one of our guests was poisoned."

"It was an accident. Not intended to happen."

"That won't hold up in court, they are going to nail us to the wall. I have already gotten the preliminary police report that your cousin was hung over when she switched out the water bottles in the room. She is going down for it and the hotel will too."

Holy crap! I had no idea this was going on. It must have happened after my death, and Marcus was right, it would be very very bad for Hilton. 

"I am done talking to you Marcus. Do your job."

Marcus looks exhausted and has bags under his eyes. A tiny part of me feels sorry for him, and another wants to know why he was outside my building the morning of my death. It's beginning to get more than complicated.